Bird flu: still a real threat

The EU institutions and the member states will remain on guard throughout the summer to prevent a Europe-wide pandemic of bird flu.

France, Germany and the Czech Republic last month confirmed outbreaks of the pathogenic H5N1 bird flu variant in domestic and wild birds.

But bird flu has so far not approached the pandemic proportions widely feared when the first outbreaks of H5N1 were reported in the EU in January 2006. The incidence of bird flu is usually lower during the summer months than in winter.

"The Commission has over the last two years been continuously improving systems and measures to deal with bird flu," said a spokesman for the European Commission’s health department. "We are satisfied that everything is in place to deal with whatever might occur."

The majority of measures adopted to deal with bird flu have involved speeding up communication between the member states and the Commission.

The most serious outbreak of H5N1 so far this year concerned a turkey farm in England, where 159,000 birds had to be culled. Following an outbreak in the Czech Republic in July, 100,000 hens were slaughtered. In both cases, national protection zones and EU warnings were established within hours - in the Czech case, partly with the help of a text message sent to national chief veterinary officers.

"The Commission now considers the EU to be the best region in the world in terms of preparation for a pandemic," said the spokesman.

Member states last year decided not to build up a joint stockpile of anti-viral drugs in case of a pandemic and instead to focus on their own supplies.

Figures from pharmaceuticals giant Roche, the manufacturer of most antiviral drugs available today, show huge discrepancies in national stockpiles. France this year has enough anti-viral drugs for 60% of the population, while Greece and Italy would cover less than 10%.

"Are we better prepared than in the past? Yes," said David Reddy of Roche. "Are we fully prepared? No."

Konstantin Kreiser of BirdLife, a conservation group, said that the risk of a pandemic had been reduced by improvements in communication, both between member states and the Commission and between Commission departments. "The health and environment departments in particular are talking more," said Kreiser. "Obviously this is a health problem, but the ornithologist expertise is on the environment side."

Kreiser said that the situation had been improved above all by a change in the public opinion on bird flu. "It is very good to see the hysteria seems to be over," he said. "We hope if there is ever a first case of a human death from bird flu in the EU the reaction will be equally reasonable and science-based."

This would necessitate "clear statements an explanations" from the Commission, said Kreiser, and "balanced reporting from the media, rather than just picking the most alarming possibilities to report".

The EU institutions and the member states will remain on guard throughout the summer to prevent a Europe-wide pandemic of bird flu.